New apartments in Brentwood are being financed through opportunity zone fund

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A new 108-unit apartment building in Brentwood is among the first projects being built in the District under the federal government’s opportunity zone program. (Maurice Walters Architecture PC/Maurice Walters Architecture PC)

By Michele Lerner

July 10

A new 108-unit apartment building at 1400 Montana Ave. NE is among the District’s first projects under the federal government’s new opportunity zone program, enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Under the program, anyone who invests in a designated “opportunity zone” — typically economically distressed neighborhoods — can receive tax incentives. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) designated 25 locations in the District as opportunity zones, including the Brentwood neighborhood in Northeast.

MidCity, which has developed more than 15,000 units across the United States and owns about 9,000 units in the District and in Maryland, is financing 1400 Montana with its first opportunity fund. Construction is anticipated to begin in spring 2020 and be complete by the summer of 2021.

The project will include 11 affordable units available to households earning 60 percent of area median income, which is $121,300 for a household of four in the D.C. metro area. Eligibility requirements are based on household size as well as income. The apartment building will have a roof terrace, a fitness center, a lounge for residents and workspaces, as well as parking for 34 cars.

The new project is adjacent to MidCity’s 20-acre Brookland Manor property, which is being redeveloped in several phases into RIA, a mixed-income, mixed-use project that will eventually have 1,800 residential units. That site is also designated as an opportunity zone, which will assist MidCity, along with charitable and public financing, in supporting community development and infrastructure improvements.